Super Angel Chapter 5

A/N: I'm getting' pretty busy with uni at the moment, so cherish the precious few chapters I deign to post!!! Just kidding, I'll get back to this when the inspiration fairies hit me. No really, they're friggin' slave-drivers, they've stuck me in a sweat shop and are physically beating me--

A/N #2: I am being treated very nicely in my cubicle. My employer fairies are breaking no laws and all work done here is completely legal. I am writing this retraction completely of my own volition. They are helping me with the enthusiasm we are treated to every single day!

The dude in red and blue stood over Alec, watching him in confusion.

"It's me. Clark."

"Clark?" Alec echoed, stunned. He'd just seen this guy pick up and drop a freakin' car!

"Clark Kent."

"Superman?!"

Now Clark's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What's a super-man?" he asked.

"Holy crap, I thought I recognised you!" Alec leapt to his feet, examining Clark up and down.

"Jason, of course you recognise me, you coached football at my high school for a year!"

"No, no, I'm not Jason, I'm Alec."

"Really? You look just like--"

"So I've been told. I can't believe I'm meeting the Superman! In the flesh!"

"Are you calling me super-man? Stop it." Clark watched Alec slowly circling him, feeling apprehensive. He'd gone after the car to get it back to Chloe, but he hadn't expected to find Jason-- no wait, Alec, Jason was dead. So he'd just revealed his secret to a complete stranger.

"But you are the Superman! You're a legend down at Manticore! A myth! They say that we get our more superhuman abilities from a blood sample taken from you; a retrovirus administered to all X-Series at the age of 7 that remaps our genetic code, allowing us to..."

Alec demonstrated with a quick blur of speed, circling around Clark three times. Amazingly enough, Clark managed to keep eye contact with Alec the entire time, a shocked expression on his face.

"--zip about like honeybees."

"You have abilities!" Clark blurted out loud. Could this Alec be meteor-infected?

"Huh. I guess you're not the basis of our intelligence then." Alec stood in front of Clark, arms folded. Behind him, the sun began rising over the horizon, bathing the scenery in light.

"What was all that you were talking about? X-Series? Manticore?"

"We're transgenics. The best of all genetic structures, boiled into human vessels. Super-soldiers."

"There's more of you?" Clark was quite alarmed. This was beginning to sound like it had something to do with Lex's 33.1 program.

"Oh yeah, loads. But they're all kids at the moment; I'm from the future."

"...what?"

"Did I forget to mention that? Kinda an important plot point. Sorry."

"How are you from the future?!"

"Actually, Clarky, I've been asking myself that very same question. Walk with me."

Alec began to stride down the highway. This was good; he'd finally found a marker that connected him to Manticore, and through that, unravelling the mystery that was his current situation. God, the Superman! Talk about celebrity status! Clark followed after in deep thought, dragging the Red Beetle behind him. With one hand.

It was nearly nightfall by the time Dean stumbled to a sector check point out in the forests. The Sector cops here were a little nicer to him; they let him make a call to Max, who said she would be there by morning. Dean told her it wasn't necessary; one of the cops' shifts had just ended, and he was going to hitch a ride with him. Max would meet him at the hospital.

Dean awoke early next morning in a hospital bed, the bright sunshine swimming into his room cheerfully. Dean didn't take much notice; he still hated hospitals, ever since he nearly died a year or so ago in one. He looked over to find a guy sitting by the bed, poring over a file he had in his hands, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"Hey. You a doctor?" Dean coughed. The blow to the back of his head had caused a painful swelling, but it was thankfully subsiding now. His ears had stopped ringing too.

"Ah, you're awake. Logan Cale, I'm a friend of Max's." The guy leaned forward to shake Dean's hand; Dean thought he heard some kind of mechanical whirr coming from Logan's pants, which alarmed him to say the least.

"Dude, are you a cyborg or something? Are cyborgs the new thing in the future?" Dean asked wildly.

"What? Oh, the legs; no, I took a bullet to the spine a couple years back; I'm using a mechanical exoskeleton to help me walk."

"Uh-huh. And Maxie has a thing for cyborgs, does she?"

"...I'm not a cyborg."

"You just said you have robot legs, so how are you not a cyborg?"

"I don't have "robot" legs; I'm using a mechanical exoskeleton!"

"And is this mechanical exoskeleton... mechanical?" Dean playfully asked.

"Oh for crying out loud!"

The Logan guy stood up and threw the file down on Dean's chest. Dean looked down at it quizzically.

"What's this?" Dean queried.

"Max told me you were looking for leads on your brother. Now, his name doesn't come up on any digital database, but I found an entry for one of his aliases in hard copy."

"How'd you manage that?"

"I have a guy. The important thing is; this Sam you're looking for, the last known reference I can find is dated 2012, Lawrence Kansas."

"Lawrence?"

"Does that mean something to you?"

"Yeah. Sammy's gone home."

Max and Joshua rode on the Kawasaki Ninja, towards the forests outside of Seattle. Dean had briefly filled Max in on the "crazy nutter shapeshifter who tried to kill my ass". Judging by the botched barcode now on Dean's neck, Max guessed it was Ben.

Or maybe it was Alec. Maybe Alec had gone rogue, like Ben had; they were twins, after all. What was more likely; Alec gone crazy, or Ben back from the dead? Throw time travel in the mix and...

"Smell something, Little Fella," Joshua said, raising his head. Max nodded, slowing down the bike. Kicking the stand out, she and Joshua removed their helmets.

"What is it, Joshua?" Max surveyed the surrounding forestry, but she couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. Joshua's sense of smell was much better than hers.

"Blood."

Joshua scampered off to the side, Max following. Pushing past thickets down a hillside, they came to a secluded open area, in the middle of it a disabled bear trap, glistening with blood. Max slowly knelt down by the trap, examining it, when Joshua grabbed her shoulder.

"Joshua? What--"

"Shh, Little Fella. Hear something."

Joshua crept away, Max following again. There, she could hear it too. A sort of hoarse breathing. They walked down the slope, boots crunching on dead leaves, past a big rock. Soon they arrived at a small lake.

"Oh my god," Max whispered.

There was Ben, just like she remembered him. Lying at the waters edge, body half submerged, clothes bloody, eyes fluttering. Arms bent at an unnatural angle. It was clear that he was dying, his body broken and mauled.

"Joshua, help me get him up!" Max gasped. She couldn't bear to see Ben this way, not if there was a chance to save him.

"Dean, what happened here?" Sam motioned at the wreckage that had been a motel room not three hours ago.

"You're not gonna believe this, Sammy," Ruby said, in Jason's body. Time to enact her master plan. "Aliens."

"What?!" Sam and Bobby exclaimed simultaneously.

"Aliens. They've landed, and it's time to hunt down the freaky sons of bitches. I tracked down one of them that looked like me, Alex or whatever, in time to find him trying to abduct Ruby there. We got into a tussle, and I threw him out the window, but not until after Ruby got exorcised."

"What in hell is going on here?!" Sam yelped.

Ruby stepped right up to Sam, looking him in the eye. She used Jason's hands, grabbed Sam's shirt by the collar, and pulled him close.

"Aliens, man. They brought me back to life, and they want to take over the world! This is like ten times worse than demons or anything else we've encountered! We have to hunt down my double!"

This was perfect. Already she could see Sam was half-convinced. It was just crazy enough to be true, and it would provide the perfect distraction until Lilith needed Sam to break the Final Seal. And as an added bonus, she could kill that smarmy little Dean look-alike.

"Dean... are you sure? I mean, c'mon, aliens?" Sam looked at who he thought was Dean, pleadingly.

"He's right, Dean. There's never been any evidence suggesting aliens are real; you know that." Bobby chimed in.

Ruby smacked Sam across the face sharply. Sam froze, shocked.

"Wake up and smell the tinfoil, Sammy! How else do you explain me being alive, huh? Did you make a deal? Did you even try?"

Sam's face turned dark with burden and guilt.

"Dean... of course I tried..."

"Well it didn't work! I was in Hell for four months! Four months! And now that I'm back, you're trying to convince me I'm crazy? Screw you, Sammy! And you, Bobby! I'll kill this extra-terrestrial son of a bitch myself!"

Ruby stomped out of the motel room, inwardly jumping with glee. Perfect!!! In 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Sam's hand suddenly caught onto Jason's shoulder. Ruby turned the body around, masking her expression with a sullen glare. Sam looked down at her, grim determination set on his face.

"I may not totally believe you, Dean... but I believe in you. And I'm glad you're back."

Ruby could've made out with Sam right there and then, but stopped herself just in time to turn it into a manly, brotherly hug. Ugh, boys.

"Demons? You mean Phantoms," Clark said, setting down the Red Beetle by The Talon.

The two of them, Alec and Clark, had walked all day, finally arriving in Smallville by sundown since they hadn't bothered to superspeed along the way. Alec had been telling Clark everything that had been going on in his life; he was confident if anyone could fix it, the Superman could.

"No, no, I mean demons. Or maybe I do mean phantoms; what's the difference?"

"Well a phantom is a prisoner who's escaped from the Phantom Zone in the form of a Wraith..."

"Is that like 'Hell'? Cos' that's where demon's come from, I think."

"It's a kind of hell, yeah."

"Cool! So I guess demons and phantoms are the same thing; another mystery solved, another connection made!"

"I suppose..."

Alec was exultant. Okay, so demons came from the Phantom Zone. Wicked. Eventually he would match up enough clues to figure out where time travel fit into the mix, and then, back home!

"So, you're saying that blood sample that was taken from me four years ago... that's actually been used to mutate people?" Clark was most concerned about this particular point; he'd already had to deal with the Luthor's plotting to create some kind of super-drug from that very blood sample, let alone worry about experimentation done on children.

"Yuh-huh, let's see, it happens when I'm seven, and it's '08, so... about a couple years ago."

"At this Manticore place?"

"Yup. Training got a whole lot easier after we were given the Kent Factor. We used to struggle holding our breaths underwater for four minutes; now I can do fifteen, easy, without a shot of dolphin cocktail!"

"This Manticore... it sounds like another operation I've heard of, 33.1. It used to be a secret level hidden in a fertiliser plant; now it's spread out in facilities all over the world."

"Great! 33.1 equals Manticore; another connection made!"

"Alec, I don't think you can just..."

"Dude, I'm hungry, where can we get some breakfast?"

"Breakfast? It's nearly seven at night!"

"Alright, I'll settle for dinner then; you're buying though."

Clark sighed, and indicated the coffee shop beside them. "You can have something inside; I need to speak to Chloe anyway."

Clark led Alec into The Talon, motioning for him to sit at the counter. Alec collapsed on the stool as Clark bounded up the stairs to the upstairs apartment. Looking over at a muffin jar, Alec only hesitated for a moment before helping himself to a blueberry.

A sudden shout made Alec turn from the muffin jar, his mouth full, his eyes alert. He turned in time to see Clark smash through a doorway upstairs across the room, flying back across the room and landing behind Alec painfully. Turning back to look up, Alec watched as a brown haired guy dressed in black sauntered out, holding up a blonde girl by the neck, who was struggling and kicking.

"Clark!" yelled the blonde hoarsely.

"Chloe! Brainiac, let her go!" Clark called out.

Alec dropped the other muffin in his hand. He was beginning to realise that the Past was a really violent place.

Dean was cleared to go just as they were wheeling Ben in. Max had some terse words with Logan, and Ben was moved to a private room. Dean watched as his double was taken away, as Logan stepped up to him.

"He's transgenic, so we have to be careful about who has access to his bloodwork," Logan explained. "Max is giving him a transfusion as we speak."

"Tough girl. That magic blood should heal him right up." Dean replied gruffly.

"It's weird though; Ben died about a year ago." Logan's brow furrowed in thought.

"I died years ago, but I'm still walking around," Dean pointed out.

"Yeah, remind me how that happened again?"

"Well... my best guess is, someone made a deal with a crossroads demon."

"Rright... do you have any... less insane explanations?" Logan watched Dean with uncertainty; surely this was a joke?

"What, you can deal with Cat-Woman over there, but you can't stomach the idea of the supernatural?"

"That "Cat-Woman" you're referring to was created with science. All of her abilities can be explained. The supernatural is just silly. I mean, it cannot be measured, it cannot be contained, and it is the only reason that--"

"Whoa, whoa, back up. Say that again?"

"What? Say what again?"

Dean reached up and took Logan's glasses off. Logan was a bit startled, but allowed it, blinking a bit from disorientation. Dean suddenly looked Logan over with an expression of recognition.

"Ho-ly shit! You're the guy off TV! What's his face; 'Tongue-Only'!" Dean cried.

Logan snatched his glasses back from Dean, lifting a finger to his mouth, shushing him.

"It's 'Eyes Only', and I'd appreciate it if we kept that a secret!" he hissed.

"Where'd you get a goofy name like 'Eyes Only'?" Dean laughed, not even bothering to keep his voice down.

"It's code, damnit, it's not like I was going to use my real name when-- why am I explaining myself to you? Don't you have a brother to find?!"

"Right, I'd better get on that," Dean chuckled, brushing past him. "Just gonna say goodbye to my homeboy Joshua and I'll be out!"

Dean waited until he reached the end of the hallway, then cupped a hand to his mouth and called out to Logan.

"Hey, Eyes Only!"

Logan just looked at Dean wiltingly. Dean continued.

"Make sure to give Max my best! Or perhaps your best, eh?"

Dean began methodically moving his hips back and forth, pretending to slap something in front of him whilst making robotic whirring sounds.

"Oh, Mister Roboto, Domo Arigato!" cried Dean in a falsetto woman's voice.

He scampered away as Logan began to charge at him in a rage, chuckling as he ducked out the hospital doors.

Sam, Bobby and Ruby in Jason's body got into the Impala; Sam at the wheel. Backing up and pulling out of the motel car park, Sam proceeded to head off in the direction of Kansas.

"Smallville? That's a weird place to go, don't you think Dean?" Sam asked.

"Why d'you say that, Sammy?" Ruby asked uncertainly. Jason's memories of Smallville more or less rated it as a regular town, although plenty of freak occurrences cropped up there, aliens notwithstanding.

"Well didn't Dad use to go down there for the annual fair back before I was born? Seems like a big coincidence that aliens would choose to set up base so close to Lawrence," Sam mused.

"Hey, don't ask me what's going on in their fat heads. We just gotta kill my double; he's got dangerous plans, that one!"

"How do you plan to go about doing that, son?" Bobby leaned forward from the backseat grimly. He wasn't happy how things were turning out, but he wasn't going to leave Sam and Dean alone with each other. They were both acting suspiciously.

"With this," Ruby in Jason's body smirked, lifting up a green meteor rock.

"What's that? A talisman?" Sam glanced over at his apparent brother.

"It's got some roots in Native America, yeah. The name "Kawatche" ring a bell with you? No? Well they knew about the aliens a long, long time ago."

"I dunno, Dean. I still don't get it; what exactly are these aliens doing? What's their endgame?"

Ruby still hadn't thought of that. 'Take over the world' was about as far as she could imagine it; she wasn't very well versed in this new age sci-fi crap, and Jason was just as vague on what this "alien threat" was.

Suddenly Sam jerked the wheel to one side, spinning the Impala to the side and screeching to a halt. Ruby smacked against the window with the side of Jason's head loudly. Rubbing her temple profusely, she looked over at Sam, ready to give him a tongueful for driving like a maniac, when she noticed his gaze. It was frozen, staring at something behind her. She slowly turned around, seeing several figures silhouetted under the streetlights.

'Oh shit,' Ruby thought, recognising them. This was bad.

Alec spun around on the stool, flipping over the counter and using it for cover, as Clark supersped towards Brainiac and gave him an uppercut to the chin.

'Wow,' Alec thought, watching Clark go at it, as Chloe fell to the ground beside the two. Clark wasn't just fast; he was fast! Alec could barely see the blurs of his fists; Clark was well over fifty times faster than he was! But this guy, Brainiac, he was just as fast. And, it seemed, a better fighter.

Clark was thrown back yet again by a powerful blow from Brainiac, smashing into the counter. Sitting up, he glared at Brainiac fiercely. Alec watched from under the rubble, confused, until he saw beams of freaking fire blast out of Clark's eyes! What the hell?!

Chloe was sitting up now, clutching her head; her palm was sticky with blood. Brainiac took no notice of her, as he dodged the fiery blast from Clark and sped down the stairs. Clark got to his feet, about to charge at Brainiac, but was suddenly struck in the belly with a three foot metal blade. Brainiac crouched under Clark, driving the blade formed from his arm further into him. Alec could not believe his own eyes. What kind of crazy power struggle was this?!

Clark screamed in agony, spitting out blood. Brainiac retracted the blade, swinging it high to strike Clark in the head. Clark fell to one knee, helpless to stop the blow, but Alec picked up a muffin jar and chucked it with all his might at Brainiac.

Brainiac went flying across the room, hitting the front entrance but to Alec's disappointment not crashing through it. Clark gave Alec a thankful grin, turning to Brainiac and bracing himself.

"Everybody, hold onto something!" Clark yelled out. Chloe immediately grasped at the staircase railings; Alec followed suit and held onto a doorway. Clark opened his mouth, sucking in a big breath of air; Alec could practically feel the vacuum take the oxygen out of his lungs. Then, without warning, Clark let it all burst out, sending the building shuddering and hitting Brainiac with a shockwave that not only threw him well out of eyesight, but taking a good chunk of the building with it.

Alec was so stunned he hardly registered Clark's hand proffered to help him up. Looking up at him in awe, Alec could only stare at Clark in silence, seeing him in an all new light. As Chloe stumbled down the stairs, taking in the damage and moaning something about a security deposit she was never going to get back, Alec just couldn't take it anymore, and burst out.

"How come I don't get to shoot FIRE out of my eyes?!"

Dean arrived at Joshua's house less than an hour later; he was beginning to get settled into these future streets. Knocking on the door, he cheerily called out.

"Hey, Joshua! Come say bye before I go get my brother!"

No reply. Hmm, maybe he was out back. Dean jumped over the balcony in one smooth motion, strolling down the walkway into the backyard garden.

"Joshua?"

Nothing. Shrugging, Dean bounded up the stairs at the back of the house, lifting up a window to crawl inside. Maybe the old hounddog was asleep or something. Stepping out of a hallway, Dean suddenly struck his foot against something.

Looking down, he saw Joshua, knocked out on the kitchen floor. His head was slightly bruised, and his nose was bleeding. The room suddenly seemed to drop in temperature. Searching about in alarm, Dean suddenly heard a whisper, directly next to his ear.

"Dean Winchester. You haven't changed a bit."

Dean leapt away in surprise, falling back against the sink. A girl, about his age, with shoulder length blondish hair stood surveying him. Dean let out the breath he was holding; it came out in a puff of steam. He frenetically opened a drawer, searching for some kind of utensil to defend himself. Looks didn't fool him; this was some kind of supernatural creature, no doubt.

Picking up an iron carving knife, Dean pointed it at the girl warningly. She looked strangely familiar.

"Have I hunted you before?" Dean joked, nervously.

"You don't recognise me?" the girl asked, tipping her head to one side. Dean suddenly realised who she was... it couldn't be...

"This is what I looked like, before that demon cut off my hair and dressed me like a slut," she continued.

"...Meg?!" Dean whispered.

Meg smiled back at him, a murderous gleam flickering across her eyes.

"Hi."